The Democratic Party wants more young people involved in its upcoming campaign, said Mike Peterson, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.

Peterson spoke Tuesday night in the Memorial Union at an ISU Democrats meeting and stressed that the people most in need, young people and senior citizens, are being targeted by the Democratic Party.

“We are trying to reach out to young people because your thoughts matter to us,” Peterson said. “What students say has an impact on the upcoming election just as much as any other voice. I want [the Democratic] Party to be more youthful and vigorous.”

In order to communicate with the younger generation, Peterson said, a Democratic Party home page has been created on the World Wide Web and various e-mails, and faxes are being sent out to students on a regular basis.

“I’ve been told that the average age of a computer user is 24 years old,” Paterson said. “We are now looking at how we can most successfully connect with [that age group].”

Paterson said he would like students to visit with President Clinton when he visits Des Moines next month.

“I would like to make an extra effort to get students to attend,” he said. “I want to be able to show Clinton that the younger generation is behind him.”

But Peterson acknowledged that because the speech is scheduled for the Friday of Homecoming weekend, few students will probably attend the event.

He encouraged ISU students, however, to think about coming.

Senior citizens and the cost of health care were other issues Peterson said the Democratic Party was focusing on.

“Seniors will pay more for health care if Republicans gain control,” he said.

“Newt Gingrich wants them to pay more.”

The Democratic Party will be more aware of seniors’ needs in the upcoming election, he said.

Generally, Peterson said the Democratic Party is making broad efforts to inform people of the party’s platform.

“We must organize to win in 1996,” he said. “As Democrats, we can push the pendulum of change to the common-sense agenda of President Clinton and [Sen. Tom] Harkin.

If we have serious and committed principles, we can raise activism one more notch in order to get our message across.”